The relativity of distance and size
Happyplaces Stories
Today I visited Robert Kleiburg in Petten. Robert is the COO at ECN (Energy research Centre of the Netherlands). ECN is one of Europe’s largest research organizations. It develops knowledge and technology with and for the market enabling a transition to a sustainable energy system. Robert is responsible for the R&D programme covering wind energy, solar, bio-energy & energy efficiency, environment & energy engineering, program and business development. In other words: positively serious innovation to come to better and more sustainable energy solutions. Fascinating and seriously impressive stuff.
But this is not about Robert. But about his lovely personal assistant, a graceful and sweet lady.
When I made it through the strict security (because there is also a nuclear reactor on site, which is responsible for 1/3 of all high quality medical isotopes, globally), she welcomed me at the reception.
‘Hi Marcel! Great that you’re here, that you made it. Since you had to come from far.’
As said, ECN is located in Petten. Petten is located in the middle of Dutch nowhere. Which practically means, given the modest scale of the Netherlands, it is less than an hour drive from Amsterdam. Dutch nowhere doesn’t mean that it’s a really deserted space with endless views to whatever directions seeing only the horizon of our flat country and that you won’t bump into people. That’s an impossible scenario in our tiny country. 17 Million people, on a tiny speck on the world map. On a good day, with no traffic you drive through it from north to south in a little bit more that three hours and from west to east under two hours.
It always makes me think Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, an computer-animated adventure comedy film based on the Dr. Seuss’ book of the same name. Horton the Elephant struggles to protect a microscopic community from his neighbors who refuse to believe it exists. One day, Horton the elephant hears a cry from help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Meppel is that speck on the map of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a speck on the world map. The world is that speck somwhere out there, as seen from Mars.
Funny thing about Meppel is, that Meppel in the eyes of people living in ‘The West’ (the part where the epic center of the Dutch universe is located, with cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague) is a really far far away place in the middle of another Dutch nowhere, often called ‘The East’. Largely because the province of Drenthe is associated with sheer nothingness.
The fact that I live there is often subject for conversation in meetings. Because it is such a ‘far away place’. Which, of course, is bollocks. Because it all depends on where you start measuring. And, in the Netherlands, it is impossible to talk about distance, simply because we don’t have any.
‘So, how long did it take you to get here?’
‘Less than 90 minutes. It’s an easy drive. It’s just a matter of crossing the Afsluitdijk and you’re here.’
The Afsluitdijk (Closure Dike) is a major causeway in the Netherlands, constructed between 1927 and 1932 and running from Den Oever (the west side) in North Holland province, to the village of Zurich in Friesland province (the east side), over a length of 32 kilometres (20 mi). It is fundamental for the Netherlands, damming off the Zuiderzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea, and turning it into the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer. This dike is also famous amongst car drivers because such a stretch of tarmac feels as an invitation to test their car’s speed.
She continued, while leading me through the building.
‘Wow. Meppel. You know, my brother used to live there for two years. He now lives in the US, but when he lived in Meppel we visited him once. We just had a new car and my husband said, let’s go there voor a visit. Then we can also test the car on the Afsluitdijk. So we went to Meppel. All the way to Meppel. You must know, I hardly ever travel far. I live close to work and it is amazing here, I live in an amazing village. So when we were close to Meppel, I must confess, we stopped at a gas station. Not because we had to get fuel. No, to check if we could understand the people there, if we could understand their language.’
Amazing. In the best possible way. I loved her for this story and being so open to share it with me. As a reminder that in this tiny speck, she was living in her even smaller speck, where she is really happy — and that is okay. That in this connected world, you can still be disconnected or less informed. A luxury I would say. One that allows someone to see, hear and feel everything for the first time. That helps to truthfully wonder, amaze and surprise and make lesser informed decisions based on gut feelings and intuïtion, whilst being genuinly positively ignorant. Childlike. I wished I could have some of that back.
I had an really nice conversation with Robert. Which I didn’t record. We’ll do that next time. Afterwards, the lovely lady escorted me back to the exit while sharing more stories from her Meppel visit.
Already looking forward to that next time, now, for two reasons.
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